Pakistani security forces kill 17 Taliban fighters

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: Pakistani security forces on Friday raided a militant hideout in the country’s restive northwest, triggering a shootout that left 17 Pakistani Taliban fighters dead, police said. The clash took place in Karak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to regional Police Chief Shehbaz Elahi. He said three officers were wounded in the gunbattle. Elahi provided no further details but said that the killed militants were “Khwarij,” a term often used by Pakistani authorities to refer to members of the Pakistani Taliban.